members' challenge Archives

17th June 202617th June 2026

Feast

I’m delighted to share that Breaking Bread is part of Feast – the Embroiderers’ Guild 2025/6 Members Challenge.

There’s something fitting about a piece called Breaking Bread sitting alongside other makers’ responses to the idea of feast. Food, and the rituals around it, carry so much of what we mean by home, gathering and sharing – it’s also the kind of ordinary everyday moments that I keep returning to in my work.

The Guild set a theme open to interpretation – food and celebration, a “feast for the eyes,” or something closer to indulgence and excess. All the submitted artworks feature in a Guild digital flip book, alongside the makers’ own descriptions and notes – it’s well worth a browse.

Breaking Bread - part of Feast EG Members' Challenge Flip Book — Screenshot – Breaking Bread – part of the EG Members’ Challenge Flip Book

The pieces will also be on show at the Embroiderers’ Guild stand at the Knit and Stitch shows in London and Harrogate later this autumn, so there’ll be a chance to see them in person too.

11th July 202511th July 2025

Stitch Magazine Issue 155

Stitch Magazine Issue 155 has a brilliant article featuring the 2024/5 Embroiderers’ Guild Members’ Challenge winners.

In this year’s Challenge I was delighted to be awarded the Artistic Directors Award for Innovation for my piece ‘Flowers, Leaves and Berries’.

Flowers Leaves and Berries awarded ‘The Artists Director’s Award for Innovation’

Stitch Magazine Issue 155

It’s a beautifully curated article.

Alongside each artwork you’ll find a paragraph or two written by the artist, describing how they created their designs based on the theme of ‘Colour Rhythms’.

Thank you to the Embroiderers’ Guild for organising the Challenge and to Stitch Magazine for the feature.

11th December 202311th December 2023

Stitch Magazine Issue 146

I’m please to announce that Darning Sampler is included in Stitch Magazine Issue 146.

The article showcases the winning entries in the Embroiderers’ Guild Members’ Challenge 2023.

Darning Sampler – My first thought on the Members’ Challenge ‘Layers’ theme was of threads crossing and layering over each other and planned to create an artwork that combined two of my favourite things, intricate stitch work and red thread.

The inspiration came from a little antique darning sampler in my collection. I wanted to make a sampler of my own and chose a vintage brushed cotton child’s garment to embellish with the stitches.

Using the vintage sampler as a starting point with a few variations of my own, I created a bank of stitches drawn out onto graph paper.

An early challenge was the brushed cotton surface which needed to be completely de-fuzzed to expose the cloth’s weave.

I sampled a few threads on the reverse of the garment to see which weight of thread worked best and settled on a Madeira Cotona in red and then cut out small pieces of paper about 2-inch square and pinned them over the garment to get an idea of the composition.

Size 28 x 28 cm approximately. Hand stitched Madeira thread, vintage child’s cotton garment. Mother of Pearl button added to the neckline in a red thread.
Catherine Hill – Stitch Magazine issue 146

Copies can be purchased via the Royal School of Needlework shop.

Tag: members' challenge

Feast

Stitch Magazine Issue 155

Stitch Magazine Issue 155

Stitch Magazine Issue 146

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